Resonator package and method of manufacturing the same

ABSTRACT

A resonator package and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The method of manufacturing a resonator package involves etching a lower electrode with a hardmask, in which only a portion of a thickness of the lower electrode is etched to shape the lower electrode.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(a)of Korean PatentApplication Nos. 10-2015-0070825 and 10-2015-0126960, filed respectivelyon May 21, 2015 and Sep. 8, 2015, in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice, the entire disclosures of both of which are incorporated hereinby reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The following description relates to a resonator package and a method ofmanufacturing the same.

2. Description of Related Art

Due to the rapid development of mobile communications devices, thedemand for subminiature filters, oscillators, and the like, has recentlyincreased. To implement subminiature filters, oscillators, and the like,a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator may be used.

BAW resonators are often used because BAW resonators may bemass-produced at a low price and may be subminiaturized. Further, BAWresonators can be used to obtain an excellent quality factor (Q factor),a main property of filters, and may be used in a micro-frequency band.

In configuring a filter with a BAW resonator, a capacitor structure isoften included in a chip circuit.

A BAW resonator generally includes a lower electrode, a piezoelectriclayer, and an upper electrode, and the capacitor includes a lowerelectrode, a dielectric layer, and an upper electrode. In this case, inorder to simplify the manufacturing process and to reduce the materialcost, the upper electrode of the resonator and the lower electrode ofthe capacitor are manufactured from the same material during the sameprocess.

A structure of an existing resonator package described above will bedescribed on the basis of the capacitor. Referring to FIGS. 1 through4E, a resonator package includes an upper electrode 10′, a lowerelectrode 20′, a dielectric layer 30′, a piezoelectric layer 40′, and aninsulating layer 50′. This structure is explicitly illustrated in FIG.4E.

However, the lower electrode 20′ deposited on the piezoelectric layer40′ of the resonator often uses a metal such as ruthenium (Ru) in orderto secure crystallinity of the piezoelectric layer 40′. Patterning ofthe ruthenium (Ru) metal may be often performed via a dry etching usinga hardmask HM such as an oxide.

In this case, because the lower electrode 20′ of the capacitor ispatterned with a dry etching process using the hardmask HM, a reverseslope (RS) is easily generated on a short side of the lower electrode20′. That is, because a gas G2 for etching the lower electrode 20′ maynot etch the hardmask HM, an upper end portion of the lower electrode20′ adjacent to the hardmask HM may not be etched and only a lower endportion of the lower electrode 20′ may be etched, such that a reverseslope (RS) is formed by the lower end portion being etched to a greaterdegree.

As a result, because coverage of the dielectric layer 30′ formed on anupper surface of the lower electrode 20′ of the capacitor may fail.Thus, a short circuit may occur between the upper electrode 10′, and thelower electrode 20′ of the upper electrode 10′ may fail.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

In one general aspect, a method of manufacturing a resonator packageinvolves etching a lower electrode with a hardmask, in which only aportion of a thickness of the lower electrode is etched to shape thelower electrode.

The lower electrode may be etched at least twice with the hardmaskpatterned into at least two shapes.

The etching of the lower electrode may involve performing a firsthardmask etching process on the hardmask provided on one surface of thelower electrode to obtain a first etched hardmask; performing a firstelectrode etching process on the lower electrode using the first etchedhardmask such that only a portion of an overall thickness of the lowerelectrode is etched; performing a second hardmask etching process on thefirst etched hardmask to obtain a second etched hardmask; and performinga second electrode etching process on the first etched lower electrodeusing the second etched hardmask.

The performing of the first hardmask etching process on the hardmask andthe performing of the second hardmask etching process on the firstetched hardmask may be performed using a first etching gas that does notetch the lower electrode and etches only the hardmask.

The first electrode etching process and the second electrode etchingprocess may be performed using a second etching gas that does not etchthe hardmask and etches only the lower electrode.

During the first hardmask etching process and the second hardmasketching process, the hardmask may be patterned by a soft mask providedon the hardmask.

In another general aspect, a resonator package includes a lowerelectrode disposed on a first surface of a piezoelectric layer, aninsulating layer being disposed on a second surface of the piezoelectriclayer, and the lower electrode having at least two portions withdifferent thicknesses; a dielectric layer disposed on the lowerelectrode; and an upper electrode provided on the dielectric layer.

The lower electrode may have a step portion having a step shape alongone end portion thereof.

The lower electrode may have a normal slope disposed on one end portionthereof.

In another general aspect, a resonator package includes a piezoelectriclayer, a lower electrode, a dielectric layer, and an upper electrodedisposed in that order, in which the lower electrode has a smaller areathan the piezoelectric layer in a plan view, and an edge of the lowerelectrode includes at least two portions with different thicknesses.

The edge of the lower electrode may include a step portion, and thedielectric layer may cover the step portion of the lower electrode.

The edge of the lower electrode may include a step portion and a slopedportion, and the dielectric layer may include a corresponding slopedportion above the sloped portion of the lower electrode.

The step portion and the sloped portion of the lower electrode may beobtained by at least two electrode etching processes.

In another general aspect, a method of manufacturing a resonator packageinvolves etching a first metal layer disposed on a piezoelectric layeraccording to at least two shapes to obtain a first electrode, andforming a dielectric layer on the first electrode, and the dielectriclayer covers a sidewall of the first electrode,

The sidewall of the first electrode may form an obtuse angle with anupper surface of the first electrode.

The first electrode may include a first sidewall and a second sidewallalong an edge of the first electrode, the first sidewall correspondingto a step portion and the second sidewall corresponding to a slopedportion forming an obtuse angle with an upper surface of the firstelectrode.

During the etching of the first metal layer, the first metal layer maybe etched by performing at least two dry etching operations with ahardmask patterned in at least two different shapes.

Other features and aspects will be apparent from the following detaileddescription, the drawings, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 through 3 are images of a resonator package according to therelated art, where a short circuit occurring between an upper electrodeand a lower electrode, and a coverage failure of the upper electrode areillustrated;

FIGS. 4A through 4E illustrate a method for manufacturing a resonatorpackage according to the related art; and

FIGS. 5A through 5G are diagrams illustrating an example of a method ofmanufacturing a resonator package.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method ofmanufacturing a resonator package.

Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, unless otherwisedescribed or provided, the same drawing reference numerals will beunderstood to refer to the same elements, features, and structures. Thedrawings may not be to scale, and the relative size, proportions, anddepiction of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity,illustration, and convenience.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is provided to assist the reader ingaining a comprehensive understanding of the methods, apparatuses,and/or systems described herein. However, various changes,modifications, and equivalents of the methods, apparatuses, and/orsystems described herein will be apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art. The sequences of operations described herein are merelyexamples, and are not limited to those set forth herein, but may bechanged as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, withthe exception of operations necessarily occurring in a certain order.Also, descriptions of functions and constructions that are well known toone of ordinary skill in the art may be omitted for increased clarityand conciseness.

The features described herein may be embodied in different forms, andare not to be construed as being limited to the examples describedherein. Rather, the examples described herein have been provided so thatthis disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will convey the fullscope of the disclosure to one of ordinary skill in the art.

Throughout the specification, it will be understood that when anelement, such as a layer, region or wafer (substrate), is referred to asbeing “on,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element, it can bedirectly “on,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” the other element orother elements intervening therebetween may be present. In contrast,when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directlyconnected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element, there may be noelements or layers intervening therebetween. Like numerals refer to likeelements throughout. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any andall combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be apparent that though the terms first, second, third, etc. maybe used herein to describe various members, components, regions, layersand/or sections, these members, components, regions, layers and/orsections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only usedto distinguish one member, component, region, layer or section fromanother region, layer or section. Thus, a first member, component,region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a secondmember, component, region, layer or section without departing from theteachings of the exemplary embodiments.

Spatially relative terms, such as “above,” “upper,” “below,” and “lower”and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe oneelement's relationship to another element(s) as shown in the figures. Itwill be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended toencompass different orientations of the device in use or operation inaddition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if thedevice in the figures is turned over, elements described as “above,” or“upper” other elements would then be oriented “below,” or “lower” theother elements or features. Thus, the term “above” can encompass boththe above and below orientations depending on an orientation of thefigures. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or atother orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used hereinmay be interpreted accordingly.

The terminology used herein is for describing embodiments and is notintended to be limiting of the present description. As used herein, thesingular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the pluralforms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It willbe further understood that the terms “comprises,” and/or “comprising”when used in this specification, specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps, operations, members, elements, and/or groupsthereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, steps, operations, members, elements, and/orgroups thereof.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present description will bedescribed with reference to schematic views. In the drawings, forexample, due to manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances,modifications of the shape shown may be estimated. Thus, embodiments ofthe present description should not be construed as being limited to theshapes of regions shown herein, for example, to include a change inshape results in manufacturing. The following embodiments may also beconstituted by one or a combination thereof.

The contents of the present description described below may have avariety of configurations and propose only a required configurationherein, but are not limited thereto.

A resonator package and a method for manufacturing the same according tothe present description are suggested to prevent a short circuit fromoccurring between an upper electrode 10 of a capacitor and a lowerelectrode 20 thereof and a coverage failure of the upper electrode 10form occurring.

According to one example of the present description, the resonatorpackage may include a piezoelectric layer 40 and a lower electrode 20.An insulating layer 50 may be formed on one surface of the piezoelectriclayer 40, and the lower electrode 20 may be formed on another surface ofthe piezoelectric layer 40. The lower electrode 20 may include at leasttwo portions that have a different thickness from each other. Adielectric layer 30 may be provided on another surface of the lowerelectrode 20 opposite from the surface on which the piezoelectric layer40 is provided. An upper electrode 10 may be provided on a surface ofthe dielectric layer 30 opposite from the surface on which the lowerelectrode 20 is provided.

The lower electrode 20 of a resonator package may further have at leastone step portion having a step shape and a shape of a normal slopeformed on one end portion thereof.

In other words, the resonator package may include the upper electrode10, the lower electrode 20, the dielectric layer 30 positioned betweenthe upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 20, the piezoelectriclayer 40 formed below the lower electrode 20, while the dielectric layer20 is provided above the lower electrode 20, and the insulating layer 50formed under the piezoelectric layer 40, the lower electrode 20 beingprovided above the piezoelectric layer 40. The lower electrode 20 may beformed to include at least one of a portion having a stepped shape and aportion having a normal slope shape on one end portion thereof.

In this example, the upper electrode 10 may be formed of copper (Cu),titanium (Ti), or the like, and the lower electrode 20 may be formed ofruthenium (Ru), or the like.

Further, the upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 20 may beelectrically connected to an electrode wiring pattern. The electrodewiring pattern may extend to a lower portion of a substrate, and anelectrode pad may be provided on the electrode wiring pattern of thelower portion of the substrate.

Because a transition zone in which a thickness of the lower electrode 20is gradually decreased is provided by performing two or more etchingoperations to form the lower electrode 20, an occurrence of a reverseslope may be prevented, thereby preventing a situation in which thedielectric layer 30 does not continuously cover the lower electrode dueto an occurrence of a coverage failure (Cf) of the dielectric layer 30.As a result, when the upper electrode 10 is formed on one surface of thedielectric layer 30, a situation in which a short circuit S occurs dueto a physical contact between the upper electrode 10 with the lowerelectrode 20 provided on the other surface of the dielectric layer 30may be prevented.

As a result, the coverage failure (Cf) of the upper electrode 10 mayalso be prevented, thereby providing a resonator package havingexcellent quality.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4E, in a resonator package obtained withoutperforming the method descried above, a resonator package may beobtained by patterning a lower electrode 20′ with a single dry etchingprocess using a hardmask HM. During the single dry etching process, areverse slope (RS) often occurs on a short side of the lower electrode20′, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

The reverse slope is generated because a gas G2 for etching the lowerelectrode 20′ cannot etch the hardmask HM, and an upper end portion ofthe lower electrode 20′ adjacent to the hardmask HM is thereforeprotected from etching. In the meanwhile, a lower end portion of thelower electrode 20′ is etched by exposure to the gas G2, causing areverse slope (RS) to form in which the portion close to the lowersurface is etched to a greater degree.

This may form a discontinuous portion upon forming a dielectric layer30′ on an upper surface of the lower electrode 20′, thereby causing thedielectric coverage to fail at various locations along an edge portionof the lower electrode 20′, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

Thus, after the upper electrode 10′ is formed on an upper surface of thedielectric layer 30′, a portion of the upper electrode 10′ may be formedin a discontinuous manner. Thus, the upper electrode 10′ may beconnected to the lower electrode 20′ due to the failure of thedielectric layer 30′ to provide sufficient insulation, thereby causing ashort circuit, and a coverage failure of the upper electrode 10′.

However, according to an example of the present description, a thicknessof at least a portion of the lower electrode 20 may be different fromthose of other portions of the lower electrode 20, thereby preventingthe reverse slope from being formed on the lower electrode 20. As aresult, the coverage failure of the dielectric layer 30 and the upperelectrode 10 may be prevented, and the formation of short circuitsbetween the upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 20 may beprevented.

As an example of a shape of the lower electrode 20 as described above,the reverse slope may be prevented from being formed on one end portionof the lower electrode 20, and a shape of a normal slope may be formedon one end portion of the lower electrode 20. Herein, a normal sloperefers to a slope that forms an obtuse angle between 90° and 180° withan upper edge of the lower electrode 20, as illustrated in FIG. 5E. Forexample, a substantial portion of the edge of the lower electrode 20 mayinclude a sidewall that forms an angle of approximately 95° and 160°with the upper surface of the lower electrode 20. On the other hand, areverse slope refers to a slope formed by an upper edge of the lowerelectrode 20 having an acute angle of less than 90°. A sidewall having areverse slope forms an angle of less than 90° with the piezoelectriclayer 40′, increasing the chance that a dielectric material that formsthe dielectric layer 30′ may not fully fill the narrow space. Thus, agap may be created in the dielectric layer 30′. After the upperelectrode 20′ is formed, such a gap may become a location in which ashort circuit S occurs, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

As another shape of the lower electrode 20, a step portion SP having astep shape may also be formed on one end portion of the lower electrode20. Referring to FIG. 5F, the step portion SP refers to a portion wherea sidewall of the lower electrode 20 forms approximately a right angle,or 90°, with an upper surface of the lower electrode 20. For example, aportion of the sidewall may have an angle in the range of approximately85 to 95°.

Referring to FIG. 6, an example of a method of manufacturing a resonatorpackage is illustrated.

In 610, to form a resonator package, an insulating layer 50 is formed ona substrate. The insulating layer 50 may be formed by depositing silicondioxide (SiO₂) or aluminum oxide (Al₂O₂) on the substrate using achemical vapor deposition method, an RF magnetron sputtering method, oran evaporation method.

In 620, a piezoelectric layer 40 is formed on the insulating layer 50.The piezoelectric layer 40, which is a portion generating apiezoelectric effect by converting electrical energy into acoustic wavetype mechanical energy, may be formed of aluminum nitride (AlN), zincoxide (ZnO), lead zirconium titanium oxide (PZT; PbZrTiO), or the like.

The piezoelectric layer 40 may filter a radio signal of a specificfrequency using the piezoelectric effect.

In addition, in the example of the method of manufacturing the resonatorpackage, the lower electrode 20 is etched according to at least twodifferent shape in 640 and 650. The lower electrode 20 may be etched bythe hardmask HM, wherein only a portion of a thickness of the lowerelectrode 20 may be etched during a formation of the lower electrode 20,as illustrated in FIG. 5C.

In this example, the lower electrode 20 may be formed to be etched in atleast two separate operations by the hardmask HM patterned into at leasttwo shapes using different soft masks SM1, SM2.

Referring to the example illustrated in FIGS. 5B through 5E, the exampleof the method of manufacturing the resonator package may include a firstetching operation using a hardmask HM shaped according to a first softmask SM1 provided on one surface of the lower electrode 20 (FIG. 5B), afirst etching operation of the lower electrode 20 using the first etchedhardmask HM after the first etching of the hardmask HM based on thefirst soft mask SM1. Referring to FIG. 5C, the first etching operationof the lower electrode 20 only etches a portion of an overall thicknessof the lower electrode 20. However, the present description is notlimited thereto. Referring to FIG. 5D, after the first etching of thelower electrode 20, the hardmask HM is shaped into a second shape byusing a second soft mask SM2 during a second etching operation of thehardmask HM. Referring to FIG. 5E, a second etching operation of thelower electrode 20 is performed on the first etched lower electrode 20using the second etched hardmask HM after the second etching of thehardmask HM.

As such, an example of a method for manufacturing the resonator packageaccording to the present description involves patterning the lowerelectrode 20 with two or more dry etching processes, which may includethe first etching operation of the hardmask HM based on a first softmask SM1, the first etching operation of the lower electrode 20performed using the first etched hardmask HM after removing the firstsoft mask SM1 such that a step portion having a step shape is etchingonly through a portion of the overall thickness of the lower electrode20, the second etching operation of the hardmask HM performed using asecond soft mask SM2 after the first etching operation of the lowerelectrode 20, and the second etching operation of the lower electrode 20performed by removing the second soft mask SM2 and using the secondpatterned hardmask HM after the second etching operation of the hardmaskHM.

In this example, two etching operations are performed on the lowerelectrode 20. However, in another example, more than two separateetching operations may be performed on the lower electrode 20. Forexample, in another example, three, four, five or more etchingoperations may be performed on the lower electrode 20.

A plurality of etching operation is performed for the following reason.According to the related art, the gas G2 for etching the lower electrode20′ may not etch the hardmask HM. Thus, because the etching gas G2collides with and is reflected by the piezoelectric layer 40′, the upperend portion of the lower electrode 20′ adjacent to the hardmask HM isprotected by the hardmask HM and is not etched and only the lower endportion of the lower electrode 20′ is etched. Thus, a reverse slopeoccurs in which the lower portion of the lower electrode 20′ is etchedto a greater degree. Thus, the two or more etching operations areperformed on the lower electrode 20 in order to prevent a situation inwhich a short circuit S occurs between the upper electrode 10′ and thelower electrode 20′ and a coverage failure Cf of the upper electrode 10′occurs.

In order to perform the method of manufacturing the resonator packageaccording to the present description as described above, an operation ofpreparing the hardmask HM, the lower electrode 20, the piezoelectriclayer 40, and the insulating layer 50 may be first performed. Theabove-mentioned operation of preparing the hardmask HM, the lowerelectrode 20, the piezoelectric layer 40, and the insulating layer 50 isillustrated in FIGS. 5A and 6.

Thereafter, a first etching operation of the hardmask HM of patterningthe hardmask HM into a shape to be patterned on the lower electrode 20using a first etching gas G1 may be performed. As such, the reason thatthe hardmask HM is patterned is to pattern the lower electrode 20 usingthe hardmask HM as a medium, because the lower electrode 20 is formed ofruthenium and it is difficult to etch the lower electrode 20 using thesoft mask SM.

That is, because the hardmask HM may be patterned by the etching usingthe soft mask SM1, the hardmask HM may be first patterned and the lowerelectrode 20 may be then patterned using the patterned hardmask HM.

In other words, according to one example of a first etching operation ofthe hardmask HM, the hardmask HM may be patterned by a pattern of thesoft mask SM1 provided on the hardmask HM.

According to an example of the present description, the patterning oftwo or more times for the lower electrode 20 using the hardmask HM maybe provided so that a reverse slope shape that forms when the hardmaskHM is used, is not formed. The above-mentioned first etching operationof the hardmask HM is illustrated in FIG. 5B.

In addition, the first etching gas G1 may be provided as a gas thatetches only the hardmask HM and hardly etches the lower electrode 20.

In other words, the first etching operation of the hardmask HM of themethod for manufacturing the resonator package according to the presentdescription may be performed using the first etching gas G1 that doesnot etch the lower electrode 20 and only etches the hardmask HM.

Meanwhile, after the first etching operation of the hardmask HM, a firstetching operation of the lower electrode 20 of performing an etchingprocess on the lower electrode 20 may be performed. In this example, asecond etching gas G2 that easily etches the lower electrode 20 and onlyslightly etches the hardmask HM may be used.

That is, the first etching operation of the lower electrode 20 of themethod for manufacturing the resonator package may be performed usingthe second etching gas G2 that does not etch the hardmask HM and etchesonly the lower electrode 20.

In addition, in the first etching operation of the lower electrode 20,the etching may be performed on only a predetermined thickness of thelower electrode 20, not the overall thickness of the lower electrode 20.Thus, when viewed in a cross section direction of the lower electrode20, the lower electrode 20 may be formed to include the step portionhaving the step shape.

This is to induce a shape of the normal slope (NS), in order to preventthe reverse slope (RS) from being formed on the lower electrode 20 bythe second etching gas G2.

The above-mentioned first etching operation of the lower electrode 20 isillustrated in FIG. 5C.

If the first etching operation of the lower electrode 20 is completed,the second etching operation of the hardmask HM of again performing theetching for the hardmask HM may be performed.

The second etching process on the hardmask HM may be performed by againproviding the soft mask SM2 on one surface of the hardmask HM andspraying the first etching gas G1.

In other words, the second etching operation of the hardmask HM may beperformed using the first etching gas G1 that does not etch the lowerelectrode 20 and etches only the hardmask HM.

In this example, in the second etching operation of the hardmask HM, thehardmask HM may be secondarily patterned by a pattern of the soft maskSM2 provided on the hardmask HM.

The above-mentioned second etching operation of the hardmask HM isillustrated in FIG. 5D.

After completing the second etching of the hardmask HM, the secondetching operation of the lower electrode 20 of performing the secondetching process on the lower electrode 20 may be performed. Since thelower electrode 20 is formed to include the step portion in the firstetching operation of the lower electrode 20, if the second etching gasG2 is sprayed at the same flow rate, the lower electrode 20 may maintaina stepped shape even while the piezoelectric layer 40 is etched to beexposed. Because an edge portion of a thickness changed portion of thestepped portion is more etched, a normal slope (NS) may be furtherformed in addition to a step portion SP along the edge of the hardmaskHM.

That is, the second etching operation of the lower electrode 20 may beperformed using the second etching gas G2 that does not etch thehardmask HM and only etches the lower electrode 20.

The above-mentioned second etching operation of the lower electrode 20is illustrated in FIG. 5E.

Thereafter, an operation of forming a dielectric layer 30 is performedin 660. Referring to the example illustrated in FIG. 5F, the dielectriclayer 30 is formed on the lower electrode 20 of which the etching iscompleted according to FIG. 5E.

After the operation of forming the dielectric layer 30, an operation offorming an upper electrode 10 is performed in 670. Referring to theexample illustrated in FIG. 5G, the upper electrode 10 is finally formedon the dielectric layer 30.

In an example in which the resonator package is manufactured asdescribed above, the short circuit S between the upper electrode 10 andthe lower electrode 20 may be prevented, proved by experimentation.

That is, in a case in which an electrostatic discharge (ESD) experimentresult is checked after the resonator package has been manufactured bythe method described above, when the resonator package is manufacturedaccording to the related art, the failure due to the short circuit Soccurs at a rate of about 50% at a voltage of 300V. However, after animprovement according to the present disclosure, the short circuit Soccurs at a rate of about 1% even at a higher voltage of 500V, whichproves a significant effect.

As set forth above, according to an example of the present description,the resonator package and the method for manufacturing the same mayprevent a short circuit from occurring between the upper electrode andthe lower electrode that serve as a capacitor.

Further, the coverage failure of the upper electrode may be prevented.

While this disclosure includes specific examples, it will be apparent toone of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made in these examples without departing from the spiritand scope of the claims and their equivalents. The examples describedherein are to be considered in a descriptive sense only, and not forpurposes of limitation. Descriptions of features or aspects in eachexample are to be considered as being applicable to similar features oraspects in other examples. Suitable results may be achieved if thedescribed techniques are performed in a different order, and/or ifcomponents in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit arecombined in a different manner, and/or replaced or supplemented by othercomponents or their equivalents. Therefore, the scope of the disclosureis defined not by the detailed description, but by the claims and theirequivalents, and all variations within the scope of the claims and theirequivalents are to be construed as being included in the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A resonator package comprising: a lower electrodedisposed on a first surface of a piezoelectric layer, an insulatinglayer being disposed on a second surface of the piezoelectric layer, andthe lower electrode having at least two portions with differentthicknesses; a dielectric layer disposed on the lower electrode; and anupper electrode provided on the dielectric layer and insulated from thelower electrode.
 2. The resonator package of claim 1, wherein the lowerelectrode has an end step portion disposed along one end portion of thelower electrode and being perpendicular to the first surface of thepiezoelectric layer.
 3. The resonator package of claim 1, wherein thelower electrode has an end slope portion disposed along on one endportion of the lower electrode, and wherein a thickness of the end slopeportion decreases with approaching the first surface of thepiezoelectric layer.
 4. A resonator package comprising: a piezoelectriclayer, a lower electrode, a dielectric layer, and an upper electrodedisposed in that order, wherein the lower electrode has a smaller areathan the piezoelectric layer in a plan view, and the lower electrodecomprises at least two portions with different thicknesses, and whereinthe upper electrode is insulated from the lower electrode.
 5. Theresonator package of claim 4, wherein the lower electrode has an endstep portion disposed along one end portion of the lower electrode andbeing perpendicular to the first surface of the piezoelectric layer, andthe dielectric layer covers the at least one step portion and the endstep portion of the lower electrode.
 6. The resonator package of claim4, wherein the lower electrode comprises an end slope portion disposedalong on one end portion of the lower electrode, a thickness of the endslope portion decreases with approaching the first surface of thepiezoelectric layer, and the dielectric layer comprises a correspondingslope portion above the end slope portion of the lower electrode.
 7. Theresonator package of claim 6, wherein the at least one step portion andthe end slope portion of the lower electrode are obtained by at leasttwo electrode etching processes.
 8. The resonator package of claim 1,wherein the at least two portions are disposed parallel to the firstsurface of the piezoelectric layer, and are separated by at least onestep portion.
 9. The resonator package of claim 4, wherein the at leasttwo portions are disposed parallel to a surface of the piezoelectriclayer, and are separated by at least one step portion.